I am looking at a replacement 120mm air fork for my hardtail. How much difference does a bolt through axle make? Would I be mad to buy another 9mm QR fork, or is the performance increase of a 15mm worth the price of a new wheel which I'd need as well. It is 7 years since I last bought a suspension fork, and things seem to have moved on a bit since then.
I dunno about mad but as far as I can tell most of your options will be 15 or 20mm based, so just go with it..
Another factor to consider is that all the knockdown forks on sale appear to have QR, so depends how much you want to spend. Although if you've found otherwise then let me kow, cause I'm on the lookout as my wheel is a 15mm
I'm looking at £300-400 range so a good range of RS Reba, Magura, DT Swiss to choose from most with QR. If going bolt through, the Reba with 15mm seems the best option.
I've been out demoing bikes with 15mm q/r forks today and i can't say i noticed any performance advantage over my current 9mm q/r.